


Lavender Honey

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Family Secret, France - Freeform, Modern AU, Provence, STRQ, Secret Diary, Summer Love Story, Wedding, destination wedding, family holiday, strq backstory, summer is alive in this one, the fountain is a metaphor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-06-30 14:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15754017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: For the first time in forever Yang's whole family, including her mother, reunites in France to celebrate her uncle's wedding. But between vineyards and lavender fields Yang suddenly finds herself confronted with her complicated family situation, dark secrets from the past and how fast your feelings for your best friend can change.Modern AU in which Summer never died. STRQ backstory and lots of Bumblebee.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! I'm so excited to finally post it. Also huuuuge shoutout to Adox for being an amazing beta for this one once again. They've made the whole story a lot better, trust me. I hope you'll like it!

Yang had grown up with stories of France. Vivid images painted by the stories Summer had told her and Ruby, the pictures Taiyang pulled out whenever he got the chance to; all inside of her head. But there was always a downside to dreams and expectations. When Yang stared out of the window, the rough but beautiful landscape passing by (rough and beautiful sounded exactly like one of those descriptions in the brochures Summer had showed them before the trip), she wasn’t sure if coming here had been a mistake. 

The real France didn’t match the image in her head she had held onto for so long. It wasn’t a collection full of perfect landscapes but rather lush lavender fields tainted by an old tractor standing right in the middle, rusty cars blocking the view of a beautiful old house and the fields full of poppies and cornflowers not matching the exact shade of green she believed to remember. Everything seemed a bit more edged, more dry, more real and less vibrant. Maybe finally being here for the first time meant coming to terms with that place only existed in her dreams and letting it go for good.

“Is this even an official road?” Yang asked. “I’m not sure if insurance will cover the gravel wrecking our tires.”

“I still know the way.” Raven changed the radio channel from some French chanson that Blake would have loved, to a woman talking in a serious tone. Yang didn’t understand a single word. “Did you at least start your essay while we were on the plane?”

“Sure.” The truth was, she had merely written her name on it before playing Minecraft until her laptop’s battery had died. Not that she and raven had talked much anyway. She leaned back, resting her feet on the console. It was warmer than she had expected, and the car they had rented either didn’t have air con or they just hadn’t been smart enough to figure it out, so they had opened the windows. The wind grasping at her hair with greedy fingers, blonde curls hitting her cheeks. The air smelled different in France, like chalk, lavender and the sun.

“If you ask me, it wasn’t smart of them to buy the château. They paid too much for it and no one’s ever done anything with it for at least twenty years. The bathrooms were old even when I was spending  _ my _ summers there. They’re gonna have to put more money into it than it’s actually worth.”

“I don’t know, Summer was pretty excited. I think she needs something to do during her sabbatical.” She looked at her phone again, even though she had no connection anyway. 

Summer had said she wanted to take time off from work, a break from spending most of her time at the end of the world and far away from home, but now she had only switched one end of the world for another. That wasn’t something she wanted to talk about with Raven though.

“Look, there it is.”

Yang looked up. The château was sitting at the top of a vineyard, hidden behind a few tall trees. Yang could see the sand-coloured stone walls and little towers she knew from pictures, but not much else. 

“It looks pretty,” she said.

“From the tower you can see the lavender fields. It’s awfully pretty, like a postcard. Actually I’m sure they did sell some postcards back in the days. Never been my thing.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just one of those landscapes you see every time you buy a pretty calendar for your office. Meaningless and generic. Don’t get me wrong, I had a good time here, but every time I sat there and watched the landscape I just felt like I could as well stare at a cheap calendar instead, it wouldn’t make a difference.”  

Yang shoved her phone back into her shorts’ pocket once Raven had stopped the car in front of the château. The walls were swathed with vine, almost reaching up to the roof. This was unlike the pictures. She had seen so many photographs of the house; Taiyang had kept one hanging in his living room ever since she could remember, but right now it seemed different. Not just because of the wine. Familiar, but something was off and she couldn’t point her finger at it.

The front door opened before Yang had even gotten out of the car. “Oh, you’ve made it,” Qrow said. Despite the heat, he wore long, black pants without shoes. “We expected you earlier.”

“Well, we couldn’t exactly tell the pilot to hurry up.” Yang smirked and jumped up the stairs to greet her uncle. He hugged her tightly. “Did we miss lunch?”

“Yeah, but we’ve kept something for you.” He let go of her and shortly nodded into Raven’s direction to acknowledge her existence. One of their warmer welcomes. “Go on inside and say hello to the others, I’m gonna help your mum with the luggage.”

“Noble,” Raven said. Yang hesitated for a moment before going inside.

It was surprisingly cold inside of the house. The entrance hall didn’t have any windows, but light shone through the open doors leading to rooms she had yet to discover. The stone floor seemed as old as the faded paint at the walls and the wooden furniture. A staircase led to a gallery. Yang could spot some doors to the rooms of the upper floors. Only now Yang noticed that she didn’t know where to go, but she heard voices, so she followed them.

She entered what looked like a living room, with heavy carpets on brown tiles, sofas, armchairs, a fireplace and bookshelves that were almost empty. The walls were painted in a soft, faded orange, with lighter spots left where paintings used to hang. There were large windows and an open door, behind it the garden and the voice of either Ruby or Summer, sometimes she wasn’t quite sure.

“Yang!” Ruby jumped up and jumped into her arms before Yang could react.

“Urgh, you’re wet!” Yang pulled her close despite Ruby still being in her wet swimsuit.

“Yeah, we got the pool cleaned.” Ruby grinned. “Come on, the water is amazing. I’m so glad you’re finally here!”

“Where’s Raven?” Summer wasn’t far behind Ruby. Her embrace was warm and Yang still found it weird that she was now taller than her.

“Unloading the car with Qrow.”

Summer smiled and nodded. “How was your flight? Do you want to say hello to everyone or get to your room first? The view from your room is just amazing, you’ll see. I’ve always loved the view from on top of the towers the most. I can tell Tai to make you something to eat. Or do you want me to show you around?”

“I’ll go see the others first. Where’s Blake?”

“Everyone’s down by the pool,” Ruby said. As she stood next to Summer, it was hard not to notice how much they looked alike. Summer’s hair was longer, and obviously she was older, but there was no doubt they were related. It had taken Yang awhile not to let that make her feel excluded. Ruby took her hand. “Come on, you need to see this.”

The garden looked like people had only recently started to chop down bushes and vines. But beneath what nature had conquered, you could still see what had once been a beautiful garden. Or still was. A large fountain was almost entirely covered with red roses. A stone figure stood hidden in the thicket, but there were only hints of its full form between the foliage, small patches of grey stone visible beneath. Instead of water, it almost seemed like it overflowed with crimson petals. The smell of earth, herbs and flowers was almost overwhelming.

The pool was hidden behind dead trees, skeletons fully covered with ivy, and for a second Yang thought she understood why Summer loved the place so much she had spent all her savings on buying it. The pool was made of stone, water pouring out of the mouth of a lion’s head. The statue would have seemed over the top if it hadn’t been ancient.

Kali and Blake sat in cheap plastic chairs next to the pool. Blake closed her book when she saw her, her lips curling into a warm smile. “You made it,” she said.

Kali got up before Blake did. “Honey, you must be tired,” she said and hugged her. “Did they at least get you something to eat yet? How was your flight?”

“Not yet, I only just got here. The flight was good. Long and boring, but we were flying business class, so it could’ve been worse.”

“I’ll tell your father you’re here and to get you something to eat, he and Ghira were eager to find out the name of that bush that just smells so amazing.” Kali put her sunglasses on. “I’m still pretty sure it’s just laurel.”

“They’ve been discussing that ever since we’ve arrived,” Blake whispered when Kali was leaving. “Our dads are eager to find the answer in a book without looking it up online.” She shook her head for a moment, her gaze lingering on her as if she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.

“Typical,” Yang said, and before she could change her mind she stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, Blake’s hair tickling her cheek. “It’s good to see you.”

“I’m glad you’re finally here,” Blake whispered when she hugged her back. “The house is making weird noises all the time and I just can’t sleep alone in that room anymore.”

“Blake doesn’t like the water,” Ruby said behind her. “Maybe  _ you _ convince her to go swimming with me.”

She pulled away from Blake. “The pool is barely big enough to swim”, Yang said.

“Big enough. I wouldn’t survive the heat without it.” Ruby sat down at the edge of the pool, letting her feet dangle in the water.

“Do you want me to show you our room?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, please. I could die for a shower.”

“Don’t show her around without me!” Ruby said.

The room wasn’t as bad as Yang had expected after everything Raven had said, but the wallpaper was truly horrible, pink flowers on yellow ground that once might have been white. A large bed, its sheets clearly new (Yang had seen them at IKEA), but the carpet was so old the pattern had almost faded completely. Yang liked dark wooden furniture, the bookshelf full with old titles in French. A stack of books on one of the bedside tables clearly marked that side of the bed as Blake’s. 

Qrow had already brought her luggage upstairs, but Yang didn’t feel like unpacking right away and leaned out of one of the open windows. The view really was like one of those postcards. The vineyards didn’t block the valley, lavender fields and old farm houses next to meadows full of poppies and wildflowers. Yang had never been a person to own calendars with pictures of landscapes, rather choosing motorbikes or cute kittens, so she had no idea how generic it actually was. Meaningless? She wasn’t sure.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Blake said from behind her. “We’re lucky the trees don’t block our view. I’ve always loved lavender.”

“I don’t know if I’m a landscape type of person.” Yang turned around and leaned against the wall. “You know, this is the first time my whole family is together since… forever. I don’t even know why mum is here.”

“It’s her brother’s wedding after all.”

“Yeah, but Summer always makes him invite her for his birthday and she never comes. I don’t even remember when I’ve last seen her talk to anyone else from my other family. They never overlap, it’s… weird.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Blake sat down on their bed, running her hands through her hair and putting it up into a messy bun. “Are you scared she might pick a fight?”

She shrugged. “I mean sure, but I don’t know if that’s what I’m most worried about.”

“What else then?”

“I don’t know.” She stared at her feet. The carpet had some holes in it, maybe from too many feet running over it through the years, maybe just moths. “I think I’m gonna take a shower now. It was a long flight.”

“You have to let the water run for a moment before it turns warm. You can use my stuff if you don’t want to unpack all your toiletries right now.”

“Thank you.” She looked back at the landscape in front of her for a brief moment. It didn’t even seem meaningless to her, she just didn’t know what to think of it. Maybe that was worse.

 

* * *

 

The nights in France smelled different than anything Yang had ever experienced, and slowly she thought she might like it. They were having dinner in a small backyard behind the kitchen, crowded together over a long table that barely fit them all. They had cleared the empty plates from dinner already and Yang wondered if long nights with wine, cheese and grapes from her stepmother’s own vineyard were just a trope they re-enacted or something the French actually did.

“So you really spent every summer here when you were at college?” Ghira asked. “How could you afford that?”

“We worked here. Back then it was still an active vineyard and the château was rented out for holiday guests and weddings.” Summer reached for Qrow’s hand on the table and Yang instinctively looked at her dad, but he didn’t look up from the grapes he was cutting in half to stop rolling from the tiny chunks of cheese he had prepared on his plate while they had talked about the wedding. “Now another local farmer is happy about using our vineyard and I’m happy I don’t have the work.”

“Getting the house into shape is enough work,” Qrow said. “And expensive enough.”

“You should work on the garden if you ask me,” Taiyang said. “Otherwise it will soon grow over your head. Literally.”

“In your house you can do what you want.” Qrow poured more wine into his glass.

“Well, first we have to get it ready for the wedding.” Summer smiled softly, in the way that always reminded Yang of Ruby. Raven had once told her Summer did it on purpose, and ever since it had seemed pure and innocent with Ruby, but with Summer it was rather diplomatic, a way of calming down everyone around her. Did she really do it on purpose?

“I think I like the garden like that,” Kali said. “There’s beauty in the wilderness.”

“You only say that because it’s easier to maintain like that.” Ghira shook his head, sharing a long gaze with Taiyang. “See? I’ve told her she doesn’t really care.”

“Tai used to take care of the garden when we were staying here,” Summer said. “Raven sometimes helped him, but he was the only one who really enjoyed it.”

“I only helped him because I wasn’t very eager to run the vineyards up and down all day long.” Raven stole one of Taiyang’s elaborate cheese creations from his plate.

Summer smirked. “Just that?”

“Oh, come on.” Raven rolled her eyes and pointed at Yang. “Everyone knows I got knocked up in the end, no point in making a huge deal out of it.”

Taiyang almost choked on his cheese, shooting her an offended glare that only made her shrug. Both Yang and Qrow started to laugh, but Yang didn’t know if it should make her feel awkward or not. “Well, she’s not wrong,” Ruby said.

“Actually we used to sit together like that every night, right in this backyard,” Taiyang said. “Drinking too much wine, annoying everyone by talking too loud. Remember that one time we almost lost our jobs because we had a midnight bath in the pool?”

“You forgot to mention that we were drunk and naked,” Qrow said. “He thought we had had some sort of weird group sex. Even when I told him Raven’s my sister.”

“You look like a female version of her.” Summer laughed. “And he knew you shared a last name. How the hell didn’t he know that?”

 

* * *

 

“You know, I was tired a couple of hours ago,” Yang said. “But right now I’m wide awake.”

“I’ll wake you early tomorrow and make you go for a morning run with me.” Blake pulled her shirt over hear head and threw it onto the dusty red armchair. “Trust me, that helps with jetlag.”

“Maybe I drank too much wine to fall asleep. I’m not even a huge wine person.” She closed her eyes for a moment. The bedsheets smelled like dust, lavender and Blake. She didn’t feel calm enough to sleep, she felt the opposite of calm. Her mind wouldn’t stop rambling too fast for her to keep up. “Don’t you think it’s weird?”

“What do you mean?”

“All the stories they told tonight.” Yang looked up when Blake sat down on the bed next to her, starting to braid her hair and holding a hair tie between her lips.. “They seemed to be so close and get along so well, but now Qrow doesn’t get along with anyone but Summer, mum doesn’t get along with anyone at all and the only people who would have a reason not to get along are Summer and dad, but they seem to be good friends.”

“Yeah, it is weird.” Blake leaned against the headboard, securing her braid with the hair tie. “You know, I’ve talked about it with my mum before. She’s been friends with Summer since college, but not even she knows what happened.”

“Do you think it could be just because of relationship drama? Mum leaving dad, dad being with Summer, then Summer being with Qrow…”

“Maybe.”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I still get along with my exes.”

“Well, I can understand it.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to –“

“No, it’s fine.” Blake gave her a smile that didn’t seem genuine. “I just wanna say that… maybe different people just deal with that sort of thing in a different way. Relationships can be complicated.”

“I don’t know, I just wish they’d talk about it. I wish they wouldn’t always just talk about the good parts and then start to fight.”

“It’s hard for you, isn’t it?”

“Mostly confusing.” She rubbed her eyes, just so she didn’t have to look at her. “Yeah, but I don’t really know why.”

“I feel like every time you talk about more than one part of your family it upsets you. You’re fine when you talk about Raven, you’re fine when you talk about Taiyang and you’re fine when you talk about Summer and Ruby, but when it all comes together it’s… I don’t know, I don’t want to explain to you how you’re feeling, but that’s what it looks like from my perspective.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. The whole situations feels so… tensed. I just forget about it when it’s only about one of them.” She took a deep breath. “I think I want to go to sleep now.”

“Okay.”

The lights turned off. She felt Blake move next to her, crickets clittering outside of their window and still the smell of lavender, heavy and comforting. “Blake?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you’re here.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Check out this amazing song Adox has written for this story](https://fanaticalparadox.tumblr.com/post/177417960138/adox-hey-look-i-wrote-a-song-for-one)!!! I'm so in love with this and Adox is just amazing. I'm absolutely in love with it and can't even put into words how much I love it.

“Come on!” Yang stopped and turned around, laughing despite her lack of breath. “You wake me up to go for a run with you, and now you’re tired already?”

“You realise we have to climb all the way up that hill again, don’t you?” Blake leaned forwards, cradling her side. “Not everyone runs marathons like you do.”

“One. One marathon.” Yang smirked. “Stitch in your side? Wanna take a break?”

“Yes.  _ Please _ .”

“Okay, let’s just slowly walk for the next bit until it goes away.”

Blake had been right; the morning run did help settle her jetlag. At least right now she was optimistic enough to believe she would make it through the day with caffeine, and maybe a nap or two. They had run down the hill through the vineyard, almost tripping over their toes, and now had reached the lavender fields. Endless rows of purple blossoms stretched out in front of them; the heavy smell, and the ever surrounding buzzing of the bees made Yang feel dizzy. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Blake asked.

“Yeah.” She tried not to think about how Raven seemed to look down on finding beauty in a landscape like this, and how much Summer loved it.

“The colour makes your eyes stand out, you know.”

“Does it?” Yang felt her lips curl into a smile.

“Yeah. They almost match.” Blake leaned down to pick a lavender flower. She still breathed  heavily when as carefully poked the stem through Yang’s ponytail.

“I think the colour suits you better than me,” Yang said. “Should I make a bad joke about? Baby, my eyes suit your body. You know, like the one where someone tells you your eyes match their bed sheets.”

“Don’t you dare. That’s below your level and not even funny anyway.” She turned around, slowly continuing deeper into the lavender.

“Okay, I  _ can _ do better. It’s the jetlag talking, I swear.” She laughed again, brightly this time, sprinting a few steps to catch up. “The path back to the house really looks way more brutal from down here.”

“I took it with my mum yesterday, you have  _ no _ idea.”

“Well, at least we can have all the wine and all the cheese without being scared we might not fit into our dresses for the wedding.”

“More your problem than mine. I’m not a bridesmaid, I can still change my mind about what to wear.”

“I haven’t even seen my dress yet. I was in college when it arrived and didn’t make it to visit Summer before she flew up. She said she could still make adjustments if it doesn’t fit, but she had my measurements to begin with. Ruby sent me pictures.” She shrugged. “I mean it’s not  _ my _ day. I’ll wear whatever makes them happy.”

“Isn’t she trying to make a whole family thing out of this? She managed to convince Raven to come after all.”

“Yeah, I guess. But we’re not one big family, no matter how much she wants it.” She was almost surprised by how bitter she sounded.

“Yang, it’s –“

“No, it’s fine.” She didn’t even have to look at Blake to know she didn’t buy it. “I don’t wanna talk about it right now. Let’s just run back up, okay? Who’s on top first?”

Blake shook her head. “Don’t you dare.”

“Want me to carry you on my back?”

Blake smiled, and maybe it was just Yang’s paranoia, but she still looked worried. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

 

* * *

 

The bathroom Yang shared with Blake was ancient, tiles hand-painted with flowers that Summer had decided to keep. The air was still humid and warm, the smell of Blake’s shampoo almost overwhelming. Yang stepped out of the shower, and didn’t even bother to really get herself dry, only lazily brushing her wet hair and putting it up in a loose bun before she slipped into her clothes. When she wanted to pick up her towel from the floor she found the little branch of lavender Blake had put into her hair earlier. She had forgotten it on the way back up. Yang picked it up and filled her toothbrush glass with a bit of water and left the lavender in its new vase by the window shelf.

The living room (or salon, as Summer liked to call it, which had left Yang in confusion for about an hour until Blake had told her it just meant living room in French) had turned into a wedding battlefield. Kali, Summer and Taiyang had moved the furniture to the sides to make space for seating plans, lace, boxes full of dried flowers and things Yang wasn’t even sure she wanted to look at any closer. Ruby sat on the floor, tying dried flowers together to make small bouquets. 

“You need my help?” Yang asked.

“Yes.” Summer didn’t even look up. “We found those old, ugly lace curtains in the attic. Can you cut them into long ribbons?”

She pulled the box with the curtains into a corner of the room they hadn’t occupied yet. Sure, the curtains were old and definitely not white anymore, but the smell was by far the worst. “Are you sure you don’t want to wash them first?”

“We just want to hang them into the trees as decoration, so it doesn’t matter,” Ruby said.

“How was your morning run?” Taiyang asked. “Successfully fought off the jetlag?”

“Ask again in a couple of hours.” She spread a curtain on the floor in front of her, pressing out awkward edges and inopportune folds.. “What are the dried flowers for?”

“I’m gonna make a garland out of them,” Ruby said. “ _ Hopefully, _ it will smell amazing.”

“That’s what you’ve said when the jasmine in your room died because you always forgot to water it.” Summer laughed. “You kept it for a while, just to prove a point.”

The others laughed, Yang didn’t. She didn’t remember the anecdote, or the jasmine in Ruby’s room. 

“Hey, how wide do you want the ribbons to be?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Just about… Kali, what do you think?” Summer leaned down to rearrange the seating plan once again.

“Maybe cut one that’s as wide as your hand, and then we will see what it looks like?” Kali suggested. “Where’s Blake, anyway?”

“I think she wanted to read in the garden,” Yang said.

“Oh, not again. She spends her days reading at home, now she’s in France with all her friends and she just sits around all on her own again. This is worrying.”

Yang bit her lip. She wanted to say that it wasn’t because of that, that she was wrong about her, that Blake was just someone who needed more alone time than most people, but instead she just took the scissors and cut through the lace.

“It looks good.”

Yang looked up. She hadn’t noticed Summer had come closer. “Could be a bit smaller.”

“How about we go outside and try it out, first?”

Today the sweet smell of the ominous bush was almost giving Yang a headache. Summer tried to lean an old wooden ladder against the tree until she was please. “Okay, can you hold it while I go up?”

“Doesn’t it make more sense if I go up? My arms are longer.”

“Well, but…” Summer looked at her like she always had when she was just about to tell her that she was too young for what she was about to do, something between worried and cautionary. It had annoyed her back as a child, but now it made her feel validated in a way she didn’t dare to think about. After a moment Summer shook her head and smiled. “Okay, but be careful.”

“This isn’t my first time climbing a tree. Hold the ladder for me?”

“Yeah, I remember the first time you fell from the apple tree in our garden.”

“I fell from that apple tree a couple of times, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific.” Yang wrapped the lace around her neck to have her hands free and then climbed upwards.

“Tai was this close to chopping it down.”

“He was? He never told me that.” She reached the end of the ladder, and started to wrap the lace around one of the branches.

“He didn’t when Raven told him it would just make you climb one of the larger trees.”

She hesitated for a moment. “She said that?”

“Yeah. You think she was wrong?”

“No.” She slowly climbed down again.

“Is everything alright?”

Yang avoided to look at her, instead staring up at the lace in the tree. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

Summer laid her hand on her shoulder. “Just asking. It looks good, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Maybe we shouldn’t cut them all in the same width.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m just glad we got rid of those ugly curtains. They were in your room by the way. You’re not mad you have to share it with Blake, are you?”

“No, it’s fine. I mean Blake is –“ She hesitated for a moment, but Summer’s hand on her shoulder was warm and comforting. Sometimes it was hard not to expect she’d ridicule her too. “I feel comfortable around her. I’d rather share a room with her than having one for myself to be honest.”

“You probably don’t want to hear anything about our embarrassing mum talk, but Kali and I are glad you became friends. You both seem happier around each other.”

“That’s what best friends are for, right?”

“Yes, but something like that is still special. Maybe one day she will be there for you on your wedding day like Kali is for me right now, or the other way around.”

It was hard to imagine Blake at the wedding altar with some guy she had yet to meet. Ever since becoming friends with her Blake had never been in a relationship, and the thought was just weird. “Well, getting married seems to be a big hassle. I don’t know if I want that.”

“But we also managed to get all our friends to be with us in one place for once. All our friends and the whole family. I think that’s worth it.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t look at her. “I’m glad you invited Vernal. I mean you haven’t even met her that often.”

“She’s a part of your family, that makes her a part of ours.”

She wished it was that easy. She wished it would make her happy instead of anxious. She thought about something to say, something to change the topic, but before she could someone else began to speak behind them. “You’re already decorating the garden?”

Yang turned around. It was hard not to feel like she had been caught with the hand in the cookie jar, doing something she shouldn’t, but Raven only looked at the tree behind them and not at her.

“Just wanted to see what it looks like,” Summer said. “What do you think?”

Raven shrugged. “It’s lace hanging from a tree. Don’t ask me, I’ve never read any of those wedding magazines. Anyway, I’ve been looking for you, Yang. Thought you could maybe help me and Qrow with something.”

She looked at her, then Summer. It should have been so easy, either asking Summer if she could cut the curtains later or telling Raven she was already busy, but both felt wrong, both felt like a betrayal.

“It’s not a problem,” Summer said eventually and smiled. “We can continue without you for a while.”

Yang nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you later then,” she said. It was stupid to feel guilty for hesitating, it was stupid to make such a big deal out of it.

Raven lead her around the house. Yang had only seen the old barn from the outside, Ruby quickly explaining that they had either made wine or just stored grapes in it, and that it was where they would celebrate the wedding. Now the large front doors were open and Yang could see how large it actually was, and how much work it would be to get it ready in time. A huge pile of junk made of wood and metal was right in the middle, some other still lying around.

“We’ve found something we thought you’d like,” Raven said when they stepped into the barn. “Right there.”

Qrow blocked the view at first, so she couldn’t see what had caught his attention. When she got closer she started to grin. “Where did you find that?” she asked, walking right past Qrow.

The motorbike was old and rusty, dust covered the chrome and rust exterior, which made her heart ache, but it was still a goddamn Triumph Bonneville. She ran her hand over the black paint, leaving behind traces of shimmering chrome. She had never been this excited in her entire life.

“I don’t know for how long it’s been here,” Qrow said. “It probably doesn’t even work anymore.”

“You can make it work again, though.” Yang tried to see anything that would tell her where to start, but she only knew what to do with her own motorbike, not how to repair this one.

“Don’t tell Tai and Summer about this, if you don’t want them to take it away from you,” Raven said.

“I’m an adult.” Yang rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I don’t own one back at home. Bumblebee is probably way faster anyways.”

“Yeah, but when are they not worried about you.” Qrow chuckled and kneeled down next to her. “Do you know how to get it back into shape?”

“No, but I have Google.” She smirked. “It’s beautiful.”

“We need to find a new place for it, though. Didn’t you want to sell that old tractor? When it’s gone there’d be enough space in the garage.” Raven’s gaze was hard to read. It was one of those half smiles that had Yang questioning whether it was really there, or just wishful thinking. “Maybe Vernal can help you with it.”

“I’ve seen people rebuild this one on the internet, it should be possible. I need to look up the model number though.”

Qrow sighed. “I’ll talk Summer into letting you keep it. It’s technically ours, so your dad can’t really say no.”

“He’s still gonna freak out, you know him,” Raven said. “He thinks she can do literally anything until he’s confronted with a death trap like that.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Yang said. For some reason it felt comforting to hear her talk about him like that. To hear her talk about him at all. It didn’t happen often, just as Raven and Qrow not fighting for once. “I’ll just tell him Bumblebee is way more deadly.”

“That’s definitely gonna calm him down.” Raven chuckled. “He gave me a long, angry speech over the phone when you bought your first bike.”

“He did? He always just told me to be careful.”

“Yes. Sometimes he actually tried not to let you notice how worried he was. Even more so after you’d moved in with me.”

Something stung deep inside or Yang, a taste of guilt on her tongue like always when she thought about the day she had told Taiyang and Summer she wanted to move out. She bit her lip.

“I’ll call the guy who wanted to buy the tractor,” Qrow said quickly. “Better go back and help with the decoration, you still have enough time to work on it after the wedding.”

Yang nodded and got up. “Thank you,” she said. “This is great.”

Qrow smiled softly at her. “Yeah, I know.”

 

* * *

 

“What do you think?” Yang asked. She turned herself in front of the small mirror they had in their room. The colour wasn’t too bad, a soft lilac, but the dress had more frills than what she’d usually go for.

“It looks good on you,” Blake said. She only briefly looked up from her book.

“Are you sure?”

“You seem unhappy with it.”

“I don’t know.” She turned around. “I mean… I don’t know.”

Blake closed her book and laid it down next to her on the bed. “What is it, Yang?”

“I feel dressed up.” She sighed. “I feel so bad, because this isn’t my wedding, and Summer was so happy about it, but it just isn’t me. I won’t say anything obviously, but I just… I wish I could just be happy about it and not think about unflattering it is for my curves or how I won’t even look like myself on all the wedding pictures.”

“You don’t need to like the dress. The important part is that you’re still willing to wear it just so she has a nice day.”

“You make me sound so much better than I am.”

“Because you are.”

Yang sighed and then took the dress off again. “Your mum was worried again, by the way.”

Blake didn’t say anything for a moment. For the longest time, Yang had felt uncomfortable around people who didn’t talk much. People’s words made it easy to read them, but what had hurt her deep inside of her heart had always rather been the things left unsaid. Silence made it hard to understand what people wanted, what they needed, and if they were mad at her or not. It made her nervous. But with Blake it was different. Her silence was always about herself, maybe because she always made everything about herself. Nothing about Blake ever made her nervous, and her silence was easier to deal with.

Yang hung the dress back up, and put on the shorts and top she had been wearing before. “I wanted to say something, not to explain anything, but… it probably only would have made things worse, I know.”

“Thank you.” Blake played with the glittery cord at the end of her book sign, one that Yang had gotten her for Christmas one or two years ago. “You know, it’s not even a big deal for me, but they make one out of it and that’s kinda making it worse.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll just tell them you’ve had too much wine and are curing your hangover. If that helps.” She stared at her hands for a moment. She never managed to keep her nails as tidy as Raven did. Maybe she did have that from Summer after all. “I mean it really isn’t that much of a deal, you’re right.”

“I think what bothers me most, is that I can’t just... talk about it, at least with anyone but you. Why can’t I just go and say that too many people sometimes just make me anxious, and that I just need some time for myself? But I just can’t, so my mum keeps getting worried, and thinks it’s this huge thing when it’s just… not. Not for me at least.”

She took a few of the things they had spread over the bed, Yang’s brush, a bottle of sunscreen, a book she put on the stack on Blake’s bedside table, a bag of wine gums. “I mean, at least this time, we’re both uncomfortable,” she said, sitting down next to Blake. “It can be like a club. I always wanted to have one when I was younger.”

“Club of idiots who spend their days in France being unreasonably uncomfortable?”

“Sounds great. We’ll have secret code words and meet at unreasonable times to steal cookies from the kitchen.”

Blake shook her head, but at least she was smiling again. “But why are you uncomfortable? Still the whole family thing?”

“Yeah. It’s weird. When I see Summer, I usually have some time to adjust and not to think about Raven too much. Them both being here is just… really weird.”

“Maybe it will be good for you. Make it easier to deal with that sort of situation.” Blake took the book Yang had put on her bedside table and looked at it. “That’s not mine by the way.”

“No? But it’s not mine either.” She took the book from Blake. It didn’t have a title or a name on the cover, just pink leather, pale from the years, neither pretty nor new. She opened it. The yellowed pages were covered with a neat handwriting that seemed familiar. She went back to the first page. There was just one name.  _ Summer Rose _ .

“A diary?” Blake had sat up to lean in closer.

“Summer’s diary.” Yang shook her head and went to the first fully written page.  _ August 6 _ _ th _ _ , 1994. _ “What is it doing here?”

“I think I would have remembered it if it had been here when I first got here. I went through the bookshelf.”

“Summer said this was her old room, but… maybe it was in one of the drawers?”

“No, they were empty. I’m pretty sure I would have noticed, I can’t imagine me not opening that book to see what it is.”

“Okay, but we slept in this bed last night, we would have noticed if it had been here all along. Did Summer change the sheets and forget it here?”

“No, she always asks before she goes into my room, even if she just wants to leave some laundry in there.”

“Maybe I’ll just give it back to her.” She stared at the date, trying so hard not to read something that wasn’t meant for her eyes until she closed it. “It’s… it’s tempting though.”

“You want to read it?”

“No, that would be… I mean if it was my diary, I’d be mad.” She put the diary on her bedside table. “I’ll give it to her when no one’s around.”

“You know, in a mystery novel this would be how the adventure begins.”


	3. Chapter 3

It was her first time in the headmaster’s office and it felt like her life as a respectable member of society was over. Her eyes were swollen from crying angry tears, her jaw slowly starting to ache despite the bag of ice the nurse had given her. She was well aware that by now she was waiting long enough to miss lunch. There was still half of a sandwich and a sliced apple left that Summer had packed her this morning, but she was still trembling with anger and she had been sitting here for so long that she didn’t dare to move, almost afraid they had forgotten about her. Cold water from the ice bag was running down her hands and neck.

The door opened. The secretary was a tall man who hated nothing more than to be called Junior, which was why everyone did exactly that. He closed the door behind him before he spoke. “I couldn’t reach your father, but your mother is coming to pick you up.”

“You mean Summer,” Yang said. It felt wrong when people called her her mother, as if calling her that only meant someone would sooner or later remind her that she wasn’t.

“No, that’s not the name from your file.” He sat down behind his desk and typed something into his computer. “Raven Branwen, that’s who I’ve called.”

Cold fear was rushing through her veins. “No! No, you can’t call her, I –“

“I already did. She’s on her way.”

“Call her again and tell her you’ve made a mistake! Call my dad again, I’m sure he’s just –“

“If I gave in to every troublemaker sitting in my office and begging me not to call their parents I had lost this job by now.”

“But you can’t call my mum!”

“I’ve had kids convincingly explain their parents would sell them off to pirates. Everything you’re gonna do is getting on my nerves.”

Her lip was trembling. She bit it until it started to hurt. Her dad or Summer being mad at her was something she could deal with, but Raven being involved awoke a fear deep inside of her that shook her to the core. She swallowed hard to fight back tears.

The longer she waited the harder it became to breathe. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, not the bell that rang when lunch break ended, not the sliced apple in her backpack or that she had forgotten to brush her hair this morning. For the first time she wished she could go back and undo the fateful moment that had lead her here and threatened to ruin everything she had hoped for for so long.

She didn’t dare to look up when the door opened again, instead pressed the ice against her aching jaw and stared at her feet. “Would you please knock next time?” Junior asked.

“No.” Raven’s voice was harsh. “So, why am I here and why is she hurt?”

“Just a bruise, the nurse said it’s gonna be fine. The principal would like to talk to you, she’ll be back from her lunch break any second now.”

“Do you think I have time to wait for her? Tell her to send me a letter or call her father, maybe he has time to deal with it. Come on, Yang, we’re leaving.”

“You can’t just leave.”

“She’s my daughter, are you going to try to stop me from taking her with me?”

“She broke another boy’s nose.”

“She’s eight, either she didn’t mean to or that boy had it coming. Yang, get up.”

Her hands were shaking when she shouldered her backpack. Raven had already opened the door and Yang still avoided looking at her when she followed her outside.

She almost never saw the hallway being completely empty, so it always had something mystical to it that she failed to appreciate right now. The sound of Raven’s heels echoed through the empty hallway, something Yang never managed to imitate with her own shoes. She wished Summer would own a pair of heels so she could try it out at home when she was on her own.

“So you got yourself in trouble”, Raven said eventually and stopped.  

Yang almost ran into her. She didn’t know what to say. All the excuses she had come up with for her dad before seemed just like that right now, lazy excuses. She had said anything right now, really, if she had only known how to prevent the inevitable.

“You could at least explain what happened if you make me drive all the way to pick you up. I was at work.”

“I’m sorry,” Yang whispered. She still didn’t dare to look at her.

“I don’t want an apology, I want an explanation.” Raven kneeled down in front of her. Yang could smell her perfume, heavy and just a little bit sweet. “Show me your jaw.”

Yang lowered her hand with the ice bag, already stiff from holding it in the same position for too long. Raven turned her head, making her open and close her mouth. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore,” Yang said.

“That’s gonna be a nasty bruise. That principal should be glad she wasn’t here to meet me.” Yang waited for her to do something else, say something, but Raven only got up and Yang followed her again. She pushed the front door open and they stepped outside.

“Raven?”

Yang looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Summer was standing at the other end of the parking lot next to her car. She closed the door and then crossed the distance between them. “I thought you couldn’t come,” Raven said coldly.

“They spoke on my mailbox and said I had to pick her up as soon as possible. What happened? Oh my god, Yang, are you hurt?”

“From what I know she got into a fist fight at school. She hasn’t told me much.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Summer kneeled down in front of her and inspected her jaw once again before she pulled Yang into her arms. Her hair was soft like silk against her cheek and she always seemed to smell like flowers. “You know you have to learn to control your anger.”

Yang closed her eyes for a moment. Anything she did made her feel guilty, feeling comforted by the embrace and secretly wishing it wasn’t Summer but Raven. “He started it,” she whispered.

“Yang, we’ve talked about that.”

“Could you stop lecturing her for five seconds?”

Summer sighed and let go of Yang. She rolled her eyes and got up. “Thank you for coming. I’ll take her home with me now.”

“I didn’t drive all the way just to escort her from the principal’s office to your car.”

“We’ve talked about that.”

“This is a new situation and it doesn’t just concern you and your happy little family, Summer. You can’t just leave me out of this.”

“You don’t deal with most of her school stuff, why do you suddenly care so much now? Oh, Yang, no, it’s alright.” Summer kneeled down in front of her once again. Yang hadn’t even realised she had been crying until her vision had started to blur, and with the bag of ice in one hand and her backpack in the other she didn’t know how to wipe them away. It felt like all her worst fears were crashing down on her. She hadn’t listened and got angry again and now Summer was mad at Raven and both were mad at her and she didn’t know when she would ever see Raven again. It was something unpredictable, sometimes her dad dropped her off every second weekend, sometimes she didn’t see her for weeks or months and often she didn’t even know what she had done wrong.

Summer wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her cardigan. When Yang looked at Raven she still had her arms crossed in front of her chest, but she didn’t look angry but almost insecure, just for a moment before her expression got cold again. “Let me talk to her alone for a bit,” Raven said.

“Rae, do you really think this is –“

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Summer sighed before she took her backpack and got up. “I’ll wait in my car.”

Raven waited for Summer to be out of sight before she moved. She kneeled down in front of Yang and when she raised her hand Yang expected her to inspect her yaw again, but then she softly stroked a strand of hair out of her face. “So you had a fight with some boy?”

“He pulled my hair.”

“Is it just that or…” She stopped, avoiding to look at her as if she didn’t quite know what to say. “You know, you don’t need to take our adult fights that seriously.”

“Can I come with you?” She almost didn’t dare to ask. Rejection hurt more.

“You’ve heard her. Your dad will only get mad again.” Raven came closer and Yang didn’t understand what she was doing until she had wrapped her arms around her. Yang leaned into her, her face buried in her blouse. She only felt guilty when she thought about Summer, about how wanting this so much felt like betraying her. “Next weekend, okay? I will pick you up.” Raven pulled away way too soon, but she leaned down to kiss her temple and for a second Yang really felt like maybe she did want her, maybe she did love her, and maybe this time she wouldn’t suddenly stop seeing her. “Don’t let Summer tell you you did something wrong. She has no right to be mad at you. I’m… proud you know how to defend yourself. Now go back to her car before she thinks I’ll run off with you or something.”

It took Yang a couple of seconds before she could move again, but she wouldn’t be able to shake off the thought of Raven running off with her for a very long time, even before she really understood what it had meant. For years she’d fall asleep with stories of Raven taking her with her on some kind of adventure on her mind, comforting because it meant that Raven actually did want Yang to be around.

 

* * *

* * *

 

The eucalyptus was overpowering the sweet scent of the plant her father still hadn’t identified. A statue of one of those chubby baby angels was waiting to fully lose its shape and get lost to nature, well hidden behind light green leaves, and Yang wondered how far the garden actually stretched. She had to put finding out on her list of things to do before she left. Above them the leaves of the tree she was leaning against kept the sun away, but a few soft sprinkles still broke through, dancing over her skin.

“There’s so much you could do with the house and the garden,” Weiss said. “Especially with the garden. Obviously it can’t stay that way.”

Blake laughed. Her head was resting in Yang’s lap, her eyes closed. Yang liked the feeling of her soft black curls against her bare thighs. “You sound like my dad,” Blake said. “I think I like the garden the way it is. A bit mysterious, isn’t it?”

“Overgrown and unkempt sounds like the right word to me.” Weiss shook her head. She had arrived this morning and asked them to keep her busy and full of caffeine to fight her jetlag, but they hadn’t made it further than into the garden since, drinking lemonade and eating the remains of Taiyang’s first attempt at making madeleines. For a moment Yang thought that if their summer stayed like that, sitting in the garden, being with her friends and her sister, without all the family drama, she didn’t want it to end.

“I just wish there was more to do here,” Ruby said. “I’ve been to every corner of the property now and there is only so much time you can spend reading comics online.”

“You can also read books offline.” Weiss pulled her knees to her chest. She was sharing a blanket with Ruby, but she still didn’t seem comfortable with sitting on the floor. “I’m sure Blake can recommend some.”

“Or help me with the motorbike,” Yang said.

“Too much work,” Ruby said. “Maybe it’s just my destiny to be bored to death here.”

“You’re always so melodramatic.” Weiss rolled her eyes. “We have enough work with the wedding preparations. Aren’t you excited?”

Ruby shrugged. “I’m excited for them to be married, but not for the wedding. I don’t like big parties. Too much going on.”

“I think I can understand that,” Blake said. “I’m not here for the actual wedding either but to spend the summer here in France and to see you guys.”

“It will be exciting,” Yang said, trying to make her voice sound genuine. She hoped it would be, but it was hard when what her friends were excited for was the opposite of what she felt. Blake turned her head and looked at her, but Yang quickly stared at the angel statue again and hoped she would just know that she didn’t want to talk about it right now.

“I think I’ve never actually met your mum,” Weiss said. “I always thought I must have met Raven at some point, but I only ever visited you at Taiyang’s place.”

“I think I only met her like once or twice too.” Ruby shrugged. “She’s always busy when mum invites her and I’ve never visited Yang at Raven’s place actually, she always came over to visit me. I’ve met Vernal though, she’s nice.”

“Isn’t that weird?” Weiss asked. “That she’s never really met any of us?”

“I’ve met her,” Blake said. “I think you two really just missed her. She never had anything against me staying over at her place when I was visiting Yang, she’s actually been rather nice to me. I’m pretty sure it was just a coincidence.”

Yang let out a breath she hadn’t even noticed she had been holding. Right now she could have hugged and kissed Blake for saying that. “She doesn’t get along with Qrow,” Yang said. “Ruby is around Qrow most of the time, I guess Raven just avoided him for a while so there wouldn’t be another fight.”

“I’m glad she’s here now though,” Ruby said. “Maybe they’ll get along better now. But sometimes Raven can be a bit…”

“Intimidating?” Blake said.

“Yeah.”

“She’s always like that, even when she’s just being nice.” Blake sat up and adjusted the strap of Yang’s tank top, her fingertips ghosting over her shoulder a bit longer than necessary. “She’s… determined is the right word I guess. It can come across as a bit rough, but most of the time she’s honestly really nice.”

“Well, at least she’s not drunk most of the time.” Weiss picked some leaves off the blanket.

“I’m sorry,” Ruby said. “You know if –“

“No, it’s alright.” Weiss shrugged. “At this point I actually got used to it.” She got up. “Anyway, I’ll go and make myself another cup of coffee.”

Yang bit her lip. Blake turned her head when Weiss left. “Oh no”, she said.

“I’ll go and make sure she’s alright,” Ruby said and got up. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

Yang sighed and leaned her head back, staring at the leaves softly moving with the wind above them. “Poor Weiss. Do you think we should have went with them?”

“No. You know Weiss, she doesn’t like sharing her problems with too many people at once. Ruby knows her better than anyone else.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Do you wanna go back inside and see if they need any help with the wedding?”

“Yeah, probably a good idea.” She sighed and got up. “Don’t forget the glasses, dad keeps complaining we don’t have enough.”

“If we don’t have enough already, what are we gonna do at the wedding?”

“Share glasses. Each table gets one.”

The terrace was empty, but the door was open as always. When they walked through the living room there was a loud bang upstairs. Yang flinched and almost dropped the glasses she was carrying. Someone yelled something and Summer came walking out of the kitchen.

“What’s happening?” Yang asked.

“It’s nothing,” Summer said, already on her way to walk upstairs. The yelling continued. “Don’t worry.”

“Is that dad? Is he having a fight with mum? Qrow?”

“Both.” Summer shook her head and gave her a diplomatic smile. “Don’t worry, okay? I got this.”

“Are you –“

“Yes, I’m sure.” Summer had always had this way of making his voice sound both soft and yet full of authority.

“Come,” Blake whispered. “We need to bring the glasses into the kitchen.”

Yang hesitated, but Summer was already walking upstairs. Blake softly nudged her with her elbow and she followed her.

“She treats me like a child,” Yang said when she was putting the glasses into the kitchen sink. “Why is she not even telling me what’s happening? Why did you tell me to leave?”

“Because I don’t want you to throw yourself into a fight that’s only gonna hurt you,” Blake said. “Not without thinking. Let them yell at each other until they’re tired and wait for them to calm down.”

“I’m not –“

“You’re doing it all the time.”

She forced herself to take a deep breath. “Yeah, probably,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Blake stepped closer and for a moment Yang’s heart fluttered nervously before she realised she was only hugging her. The embrace was soft and Yang wanted to drown in the scent of Blake’s hair, warm and floral. It was a while before she pulled away from her. “Are you alright? And I don’t just mean the fight, I also mean our conversation from earlier.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to think about all this. Mum is… complicated. She really is nice once you really get to know her, or she can be, I mean nice is probably not the right word, but … I think I didn’t know her that well when I was a child.”

“You were also stuck in a complicated family situation. The most important part is that you get along with her now.” Blake reached for her shoulder once again, this time without the excuse of adjusting her clothes. Her fingers were soft and warm, drawing circles and patterns on her skin that made her want to lean into the touch, curl up in it and try to hold on to that strange calm that always seemed to overflow her when she was with Blake. With her everything seemed so effortless.

“I shouldn’t be complaining that much. I mean it’s all good now, isn’t it?”

“I’m still here to talk whenever you want, you know that, right?”

“Yeah. Thank you.” Blake pulled her hand away and Yang almost wished she hadn’t. She didn’t know where to look. “I wish I wasn’t such a killjoy once my family comes together.”

“You’re not. Don’t worry about it.”

“I kinda am.”

“You’re just doing everything you can to deal with the situation without being a burden to anyone. Try not to bottle it all up, okay?”

“Well, I got you, don’t I?” She gave her a weak smile. “I think I’ll go and take a nap or something, I don’t know.”

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“Yeah.” It was easier said than done, because right now she wasn’t even sure what she needed.

The yelling had stopped when she walked upstairs, but she could hear Summer talk when she walked past Raven’s room. She tried not to understand what she was saying. The door flung open behind her. She flinched and turned around, staring right into Taiyang’s eyes. “Have you been eavesdropping?” he asked.

“What am I, eight? My room is at the end of the corridor if you haven’t noticed. Not everyone cares about your stupid feuds.” She turned around and walked down the corridor.

“There’s no reason to snap at me like that,” he said. She heard his footsteps behind her, but she chose to ignore him. She went to her room and let herself drop on her bed, not looking up when he followed her, closing the door behind him.

Yang crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes tracing the cracks in the ceiling. “Do you want to fight with me now because your fight with mum is over?”

“No.” He sat down at the foot of her bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Are you trying to dad talk me now?”

“Well, I am your dad.”

She sighed. “I’m _great_.”

“Is it because we’ve been fighting?”

“I told you I’m fine.”

“Oh, come on.”

“I don’t know.” She looked at him. Sometimes it was hard to lie to him without feeling guilty. “Why have you been fighting?”

“Just… old things.” He looked away.

“How am I ever gonna understand what this is about if you refuse to tell me anything about it.”

“You don’t need to understand it, Yang. It has nothing to do with you or Ruby.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a child anymore.”

“It’s not about that. We just don’t want to bother you with something that you can’t do anything about.” He tried to smile at her, but she looked away. He reached for her foot and she flinched when he tickled it, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest so he wouldn’t reach her.

“What if it ruins the wedding though?”

“It won’t. We’ll all try to pull ourselves together now.”

“It’s been so long since we’ve all been together like that.”

He ran his hand through his hair for a moment. “Yeah, I know. Maybe we should have done that a bit more often when you were young.”

“I mean mum still doesn’t get along with any of you, so it probably wouldn’t have ended well back then.”  She rested her chin on her knees. “Is it because you were with Raven and then with Summer?”

He shook his head. “The conflict between them is… complicated, and it goes way back to before you were even born. It’s more complicated than just relationship drama.”

She sighed. It would have been so much easier if she just knew what all this was about, but she had asked all of them a thousand times and never gotten an answer. It felt like she was talking to a brick wall. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Summer told me about the motorbike by the way.”

She looked up. “Did she?”

“Yeah. Looks like a murder weapon to me, but I can’t tell you what to do anyway. Just please wear a helmet, okay?”

“I always do, you know that.”

“Yeah.” He smiled at her. “Do you want to help preparing dinner?”

“I think I’ll just take a nap if that’s okay. I didn’t sleep that much last night.”

“Yeah, sure.” He got up. “Want me to wake you up for dinner later?”

“Yeah, please do that.”

She stared at the door, even after he had left. Being mad at him was easy, being mad at all of them for not telling her anything, but she had spent so much time with that and after it had never helped.

She knew she should have given the diary back to Summer, but she had simply forgotten about it and right now the temptation was almost driving her insane. She opened the drawer of her bedside table. It was still there. But if no one ever told her anything, wasn’t it only fair if she got answers somewhere else?

She knew it was wrong, but the explanation was enough for her.

 

> _August 6th, 1994_
> 
> _I can’t believe this is the last summer we’ll spend here as students. On the plane I’ve told Qrow I’d miss the house and the summers we’ve spent here and he said one day he’s gonna buy it for me._
> 
> _It’s adorable to watch Rae’s and Tai’s relationship develop right in front of our eyes. Qrow keeps acting annoyed by it and tells them to keep it for the bedroom, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that happy and that genuinely open towards someone, not even Qrow. Around Tai she seems so much calmer and somewhat relieved._
> 
> _I’ve always loved the nights here in France. It feels so much more vibrant than back home and I know no better way to spend my evenings than with my closest friends and a good bottle of wine. Right now I can’t sleep and I don’t know if it’s because of the jetlag, because of the excitement for the summer head of me, or because I’m scared this might be the last time we’ll be together like that. Qrow is sleeping next to me and it’s comforting that no matter what happens once we’ve graduated I will always have him, though maybe I’m just naïve to think that I spend the rest of my life with my college boyfriend. But I think I’d like that._

 

“Yang?”

The diary slipped out of her hands and fell on the floor. “Holy shit, Blake.” She leaned down to pick it up. “I didn’t hear you coming.”

“I’ve knocked, I’m sorry.” She closed the door behind her. “Is that Summer’s diary?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “I know I shouldn’t read it, but no one’s telling me anything and… did you know Summer and Qrow have been dating before?”

“Before what?” Blake sat down on the bed next to her.

“They got together a couple of years ago, you remember, right? But the diary is from back when they were still in college and in there she calls him her boyfriend. There are so many things they’ve kept from me and Ruby, why have they never talked about any of it?”

“Maybe they didn’t want to tear open old scars.”

“Do you think I should read it?”

“I don’t know.” She looked down, her fingers tracing the floral pattern of the bedspread. “I know I should tell you not to read it, but honestly? If I was in your position I would probably read it too. I can see how not getting any answers drives you crazy.”

“I wish you would just tell me not to do it.” She closed the diary and sat up. For a moment she hesitated, then she put it back into the drawer of her bedside table. “I’ll decide later whether to read the rest of it or not. Have you talked to Weiss?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. Already chatting about the wedding with my mum.”

“Wanna come with me and see what Ruby is up to? I need some distraction right now.” She never dared to let Ruby know how bad she was feeling. Around her she was forced to keep a happy attitude that she wished was genuine right now.

“Yeah, sure.”

The room Ruby shared with Taiyang was bigger than Yang’s and Blake’s. It had two beds and the content of Ruby’s suitcase spread over the floor and one of the beds.

“I feel like everything I do here is sleep or watch videos on the internet.” Ruby shoved a few things aside to make space for them to sit down, but Yang leaned out of the window instead. “I wish there was something to do.”

“Don’t most people dream of a beautiful vacation without anything to do?” Blake asked.

The room had a beautiful view over the garden. Most of it was hidden beneath trees, but Yang could see the rose covered fountain. She couldn’t draw her eyes away from it. “Maybe you should help dad with the garden,” Yang said.

“I don’t know. Sounds boring.”

“More boring than sitting here all day long? I don’t know, maybe I’ll help him a bit too. You’ll miss out on all the fun if you don’t help us.”

“Okay, fine. Maybe I’ll help you.”

Yang kept staring at the fountain and the statue in the middle. She couldn’t help but to ask herself what was hidden beneath dark green leaves and crimson blossoms, and if uncovering it was worth destroying the beauty of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been too long, I know! But thanks for sticking with me!!! 
> 
> Comments are very, very appreciated, and I can't wait to update this story more often now!


	4. Chapter 4

Yang woke up in a nest made of hair, limbs and warmth. At some point during the night they had apparently decided to get rid of their blanket and claim the exact same side of the bed. Blake’s arm was draped over Yang’s hip, her chest pressed against her back. The room was already beginning to heat up, but Yang still didn’t want to move. She was comfortable, and she felt like she hadn’t slept that well in months.

It knocked on the door and she felt Blake flinch next to her. “Breakfast!” she heard Ruby from the other side of the door. “Hurry up!”

“What?” Blake mumbled, her face pressing against Yang’s back again.

“Wakey wakey, Blakey,” she said, but she didn’t move until Blake pulled away from her.

“It’s too early,” Blake groaned.

Yang sat up and reached for a hair tie from the bedside table to put her hair in a messy bun. “You should go take a shower,” Yang said. “A cold one.  That’s gonna wake you up.”

“I hate cold showers.” Blake was lying on her back, rubbing her eyes. “Why does everyone have to get up that early here in France?”

“Because when you’re having a jetlag anyway you might as well just get used to getting up early with Summer and your mum. I can’t believe you were the one to drag me on a morning run yesterday.”

“I woke you up at ten in the morning, not like seven. What time is it anyway?” Her eyes were still closed.

Yang reached for her phone. “Half past nine.”

“Damn it.” Blake sighed and sat up, her dark curls falling down on her shoulders. Yang had always found her cute with bed hair. “The worst part is that it’s way too hot to nap here. I’ll be tired all day long.”

“You’re the one who speaks French, yet you’re clearly not made for this weather.”

“I don’t know how you can find it tolerable. Let’s go get ready, I really need a shower before breakfast.”

Yang left it for Blake to shower first while she brushed her teeth and washed her face. The bathroom was small, but big enough for both of them. “Are you gonna help us with the garden?”

“Guess I have to,” Blake said from behind the shower curtain. “I won’t enjoy it, though.”

“Is that a challenge?” Yang let her hair down and combed it with her fingers, sorting out the biggest knots.

“No, Yang. Definitely not.”

She laughed. “Hey, you can let out all your anger on those weeds.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell the plants how annoyed I am.”

“They’ll empathise.” She reached for the brush. “They want you there just as much as you do.”

Blake turned the water off. When she stepped out of the shower Yang didn’t know where to look all of a sudden. She busied herself with combing her hair. It was stupid. This wasn’t the first time they had shared a bathroom or got undressed in front of each other. “I never got why you’re brushing your hair for an hour before washing it and then again for an hour afterwards,” Blake said and wrapped herself into a towel.

“Not everyone has your silky, uncomplicated curls of dreams.”

“As if.” She shook her head. “I’ll go get dressed.”

“Don’t wait for me, I’ll meet you downstairs.”  

Breakfast was far less formal this morning than Ruby had made it out to be. Yang got herself a bowl of Summer’s healthy fruit yoghurt with Ruby’s super unhealthy chocolate flakes and sat down at the large table in the courtyard with Raven and Taiyang. She wasn’t sure if they were really sitting together or just happened to sit at the same table, the distance between them could have meant both. “Where are the others?” she asked.

“Here and there.” Taiyang shrugged. “I think Ruby and Weiss are eating upstairs, Kali and Blake are on the terrace.”

“Summer was up way earlier than us,” Raven said. “She told me to ask you if you want to go grocery shopping with her later.”

“Sure.”

“Just make sure you’ll be back in time to help me with the garden.” Taiyang dipped his toast into gravy from last night’s dinner.

“You’re in France, the country of great cheese and great baguette, and you choose to eat _that_.” Raven shook her head. “That’s gross.”

Taiyang smirked. “Only because you don’t understand the beauty of it doesn’t mean it’s bad.”

Raven shook her head again and looked down at her plate. It almost looked like she was smirking. “Disgusting.”

Taiyang laughed. “Come on, you can’t even cook!”

“Of course I can cook, ask Yang!”

It was weird to see her parents interact like that. Friendly banter, almost if they still got along. Yang almost didn’t dare to move, scared them noticing she was here would break the spell. “She has improved,” Yang said in an attempt not to pick a side. “Her cheese macaroni are great.”

“See? I’m perfect housewife material. Lucky be the guy who ends up marrying me.”

Taiyang laughed and for a hot second Yang thought they could actually be flirting. “Didn’t he…” she started before she could stop herself. Bringing it up was probably a bad idea.

“No, we were never married,” Taiyang said. “I thought you knew that. Didn’t you tell her?”

“I mean she never asked, and you obviously didn’t tell her either.” Raven shrugged. “I was never fond of the idea anyway. All the effort and money thrown out for one day of showing off your relationship to everyone you know and don’t like. No, thank you.”

“She and Qrow never had anything romantic in them,” Taiyang said and looked at Yang. “It’s all just Summer’s influence, otherwise Qrow never would have agreed on this.”

If she was being completely honest Yang wasn’t sure about that. Qrow hadn’t seemed too opposed to the idea of getting married. She took a spoon of her half healthy muesli so she didn’t have to say anything. “He still hopes you didn’t get that from me,” Raven said.

“Well, if Yang ever decides to bring a boyfriend home in ten years I will be happy to say yes when he asks for her hand in marriage, that’s all I’m saying.”

Something about that comment stung more than Yang wanted to admit. She didn’t want to think about it too much, not right now. “I’m gonna go find Summer,” Yang said and got up, taking her bowl with her. “Not that she leaves without me.”

 

* * *

 

Car rides with Summer and Ruby were different. They turned the music up and opened the windows, singing along to the songs they had danced to in the living room ever since she could remember. Yang’s voice felt scratchy when they arrived at the supermarket and her cheeks hurt from laughing too much, but she felt like hugging the entire world.

The supermarket was huge. Summer refused to let Ruby push the trolley, so they strolled through the alleys to search for chocolate and sweets to sneak between the other groceries. “Do you think dad will be mad if we buy real madeleines?” Ruby asked. “I want to know what they’re supposed to taste like.”

“Hide them well,” Yang said, looking out for the salty liquorice that Blake loved so much and that made her feel sick just from looking at it. “Oh, are those mini croissants?”

“Oh, I need them!” Ruby took two bags out of the shelf. “We should have grabbed one of those shopping baskets.”

Yang took a bar of chili flavoured chocolate that looked interesting. “I wish we had brought Blake. I have no idea what all these words say.”

“Wait until you see the fish counter, she’d love that.” Ruby reached for more bags of sweets. “It’s super gross. Here, take some of the sweets so mum doesn’t think they’re all for me.”

“Do you really think you can fool her? She’s your mum after all, mums always see right through their daughters’ antics.”

“Yeah, that’s why you were never able to sneak back inside after a party.”

It came so out of the blue that it took Yang a moment to reach for a bag of salty liquorice and realise what she had just said, and what it implied. It filled her with warmth and she tried not to let that feeling go. “She’s a light sleeper.”

“You’re pretty loud when you’re drunk.”

She chuckled. “I haven’t been drunk in ages. Exams have been killing me and my flight to France was the evening of my last one.”

“We’re literally living on a vineyard. I think there’s something we can do for you.”

Summer had managed to already fill half of the trolley. She raised her eyebrows when Yang and Ruby dropped their sweets next to all her healthy and conscious food choices. “Found something?”

“It’s not just for the two of us,” Ruby said.

“Vernal eats a lot of sweets,” Yang added.

“Mhm.” Summer smirked and shook her head. “It’s like when you were eight and ten and tried to argue your dad into buying you all sort of things. It never worked with me.”

“Thanks for giving in now, as I’m technically an adult,” Ruby said and reached up to kiss Summer’s cheek. “What else do we need?”

“Go pick some cereals.”

Yang laughed and wrapped her arm around Ruby as they walked back down the aisle to search for the cereal section. “You just know how to make her give in.”

“As if you didn’t.” Ruby grinned. “She has always had a hard time saying no to you.”

 

* * *

 

Blake leaned over Yang to reach for her book on the bedside table. Her shirt brushed Yang’s face and all of a sudden she couldn’t concentrate on anything else. “What book are you reading?”

“It’s in French.” All of a sudden Blake directly looked at her, her face right in front of hers. She said a title Yang couldn’t understand and Yang couldn’t help but to reach for her hair. It was soft like silk, and just as soft as her lips when she kissed her.

Yang pulled her closer and let her hands wander over Blake’s curves, pulling at her shirt before they snuck beneath it, touching the soft skin of places no longer forbidden. She wanted to be closer to her, wanted to get rid of the distracting fabric between them and touch every inch of her body.

“Wake up,” Blake said.

Yang opened her eyes.

Weiss was standing next to the couch she was lying on. She raised her eyebrows when Yang blinked at her. “Your dad told me to wake you up, he wants to start with the garden.”

“Oh… oh, yeah.” She sat up. She felt dizzy, her mouth was dry and she felt her cheeks grow hot as if Weiss had actually caught her doing… that. She needed to remind herself that there was no way she knew about anything of this. She had been sleeping. A dream, nothing else.

“Are you gonna come outside?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute. I need to go to the bathroom first.”

She almost couldn’t look at her face in the mirror. She washed her face with cold water. It had been a dream and nothing else. She had no control over what she dreamed so there was no point in feeling guilty about it. It hadn’t even been the first time she had dreamed that way about someone she only saw as a friend.

She stepped out into the warm afternoon sun. Blake was kneeing on the floor next and pulling up weeds. It was hard to look at her. Taiyang was standing next to the fountain, surrounded by way too many old and rusty gardening tools. “Ready for duty,” Yang said and saluted half-heartedly.

“Summer has decided she wants to keep the roses except around the statue,” Taiyang said. “You should probably put on some proper jeans before you go in there. They don’t have too many thorns, though. I have gloves for you.”

“Sure, no problem.”

She borrowed gumboots from Summer. It was almost too hot for the jeans she was wearing, but she didn’t trust the roses just yet. “Looks like battle gear,” Blake said when she set her first foot between the roses in the fountain.

“The war of the roses all over again, huh?”

“That wasn’t even funny.”

She laughed anyway. “I’m hilarious,” Yang said.

“My daughter after all.” Taiyang gave Yang a chair she could step on so she could reach the head of the statue.

“You two really aren’t good for each other in that regard. You just encourage each other, and that’s not a good thing.” Blake sat up and smeared dirt all over her forehead while wiping away the sweat. She was beautiful, yeah. Yang had never denied that. But just a friend after all. No one understood dreams anyway, so where was the point in getting herself riled up over this one? Freud would have had a lot to say about this, but psychology class had taught her that anything Freud had said was bullshit anyway.

Yang turned back around and started cutting back the roses. She was careful, because she didn’t trust the old gloves she was wearing. The roses were clinging tightly to the statue, but Yang was cutting and pulling until she could see the face of the woman beneath.


End file.
